The Oscars take place this Sunday and eagle-eared Lucasfilm fans will have heard a familiar name among the nominees. Ben Burtt, but not the quadruple winning genius we know so well from the first six Star Wars films, Wall-E and the Indiana Jones series but his son, Benjamin A. Burtt. The Hollywood Reporter take a closer look at his story and the nomination.
The Burtts, pere and fils, both work at Skywalker Sound, but even before they both headed to work that morning, the senior Burtt sent his son a text saying how proud he was, especially since he’d never imagined that he would follow the same career path. “Sorry, I’m choking up thinking about it,” the younger Burtt says, recounting the moment, “but honestly, it was the best thing.”
» “Black Panther” Benjamin A. Burtt, Steve Boeddeker
» “Bohemian Rhapsody” John Warhurst
» “First Man” Ai-Ling Lee, Mildred Iatrou Morgan
» “A Quiet Place” Ethan Van der Ryn, Erik Aadahl
» “Roma” Sergio Diaz, Skip LievsayIn retrospect, the Black Panther nominee’s career path probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise. He grew up in Northern California around movies, but he really got a taste of working in sound when he was in high school and helped his famous father on Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones. “We went down to Australia for the filming,” he recalls. “To keep me busy, my dad gave me his recorder and sent me around to collect various sounds. He had a list of things he wanted me to gather. I recorded the monorail in Sydney, various ambulances, the malls and shops at Fox Studios. I hung around the set to try to collect George [Lucas] yelling ‘action.’ “
Everything crossed for Benjamin this coming Sunday, and let’s hope it’s just the start of a career that turns out to be as illustrious as his legendary father.
